MotoGP France: Grip issues dent Vinales' confidence

Suzuki's Maverick Vinales is striving for a more comfortable setting with his GSX-RR after a challenging opening day in practice at Le Mans.

Maverick Vinales is lacking confidence with his Suzuki GSX-RR at Le Mans, with grip issues proving a particular source of frustration for the young Spaniard.

Vinales was seventh fastest in free practice at the French track on Friday, one place behind team-mate Aleix Espargaro following a lap in 1m 33.613s, which left him seven tenths back on Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo.

"Today's been a tough day, the lap time is not bad but I still don't feel totally confident. We are struggling a lot with traction, I can't be so effective in exiting the slow corners and we are working with different set-up options but so far we couldn't find the proper way," Vinales said.

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"The new soft tyre is not bad, I liked it, probably the harder one will not be an option so we will work on the other two," added Vinales, referring to the three new rear option tyres brought to Le Mans by Michelin.

"We have much information coming from Jerez, we are trying to find the best ones and so far we couldn't' find it, but with the hard work we are used to doing I believe we will find better configurations for tomorrow."